Vaughan tells Root: Take advantage of your superb Ashes form while it lasts!

England's Joe Root catches the ball during a nets session ahead of the Second Investec Ashes Test at Lord's

Published:15:43Updated:15:44Wednesday 15 July 2015

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England legend Michael Vaughan has backed Sheffield’s Joe Root to continue his good form when the second Ashes Test gets underway tomorrow at Lord’s.

Root scored 134 and 60 in the first Test in Cardiff as England comprehensively beat Australia to go 1-0 up in the series.

The 24-year-old Sheffield Collegiate product has made the No.5 spot his own in England’s batting line-up, and will be looking to further establish his reputation as one of the finest batsmen in the world at Lord’s - where he hit 180 against the Australians back in 2013.

And Vaughan, who also played for Collegiate before leading England to Ashes glory a decade ago, said: “He has got pretty much everything you need in a middle-order player.

“He can attack, has a good defence, plays the pace bowlers well, and spin nicely.

“He also has a great energy and attitude towards the game, so I think his form will continue for a while.

“He will believe that every time he goes out to the middle, he is going to get a hundred. That doesn’t last forever, so he has got to make the most of it.”

Root, writing in his column for Sky Sports, said: “Cardiff was incredibly special for us and now everyone is looking forward to going again at Lord’s.

“You could say we put in a complete performance at the SSE SWALEC but we are always striving for perfection and so there are still little areas we want to tweak and improve.

“That said, as far as Test wins go it was right up there.

“The atmosphere was amazing with the crowd right on top of us.

“It gave us a huge lift and it really felt like we had a 12th man most of the time.”